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| Learning to pray at meal time at an early age (14 mo.) Aaaamen! |
One of the joys of living close to our daughter with her
husband and 14-month-old baby boy is having them over often for dinner.
We always begin the meal with a prayer,
sometimes in one or all of three languages (English, Spanish, and Korean – I’ll
explain another time).
From time to time
we remind ourselves that a meal can be a sacrament.
It is a sign and example of God’s
providence.
The individual foods of the
meal represent all the various ways God’s grace came into our lives that day to
bless us.
The dinner is a reminder of
God’s provision and love.
The dinner
together begins with a prayer of thanks followed by the blessing of the
nutritious meal and then we return thanks again.
The sequence is thanks to God, His provision
(the meal), and our response of more thanks.
The prayer of returning thanks is often preceded by scripture that encourages
thanksgiving.
We can’t thank God enough.
Responding to God’s grace by returning thanks helps us set
our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1&2). We are reminded that in whatever we do,
whether in word or deed, to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God the Father through him (Col. 3:17). The
Apostle Paul encourages us to “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks
in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:16). We are not waiting for Thanksgiving (the holiday) to give thanks! Thanks
be to God!
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6New King James Version (NKJV)
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